Problems with the strength of gear coming from easy mode Alexander

[Brannigan]

When patch 3.2 launched everyone in the world had full item level 210 gear. With how much it was dropping in Diadem, and the large gap between patches, anyone who played even a little bit was fully geared out. Because of that, easy mode Midas dropping 220 armor wasn't a huge deal. Diadem was clearly a mistake, so wiping out all traces of that was probably a good thing.

However,

I sincerely hope that the trend of easy mode and crafted items being higher item level than the previous raid's gear does not continue into 4.0. The reason for this is that it has seriously sapped my motivation for farming out gear beyond the initial clear. It has basically reduced the reward for raiding to a minion that you cannot summon in 90% of the content in the game.

I would instead like to see a return to 2.x's model. The crafted gear released on even-numbered patches and the gear from the easy mode raid should be the same item level as the previous raid's gear. The weapon from the primal should be like that as well, like with Leviathan. This means that

-Catchup patch still happens WITHOUT completely stepping on raiders
-raiders who have completed their gear sets can safely ignore the catchup content like easy mode, which is pretty much a boring chore for anyone capable of clearing the raids
-crafted gear still has a place for those who want to push their stats to the limit with materia, but it is not 100% necessary because of its higher item level like it was in 3.2.
-The previous raid becoming unlocked might actually have some relevance for people who want to farm out a full set of gear quickly.

The reward for getting a full set of gear in a raid should be being able to use that gear in a new challenge. As it is now, you throw away this gear as soon as you complete it. A lot of missteps have been made with regard to raiding in 3.0 and I really hope that the dev team recognizes that how they've handled item progression is one of them.